weder … noch neither … norWith this conjunction, the verb is plural unless both subjects are singular, as shown below.

Wederdie Lehrernochdie Schüler haben recht.

Neither the teachers nor the pupils are right.

Wederdunochich würde es schaffen.

Neither you nor I would be able to do it.

When weder … noch is used to link clauses, the subject and verb are swapped round in BOTH clauses.

Wedermag ich ihnnochrespektiere ich ihn.

I neither like nor respect him.

nicht nur … sondern auch not only … but alsoThe verb agrees in number with the subject nearest to it.

Nicht nursie,sondern auchich habe es gehört.

They weren’t the only ones to hear it – I heard it too.

When nicht nur … sondern auch is used to link clauses, the subject and verb are only swapped round in the first clause, not the second, BUT if nicht nur does not begin the clause, word order is normal.

Nicht nurist sie geschickt,sondernauchintelligent.

OR

Sie istnicht nurgeschickt,sondern auchintelligent.

She is not only skilful but also intelligent.

entweder … oder either … orThe verb agrees in number with the subject nearest to it. When entweder … oder is used to link clauses, the subject and verb are only swapped round in the first clause, not the second.

EntwederduoderKarla muss es getan haben.

It must have been either you or Karla.

Entwederkomme ich vorbei,oderich rufe dich an.

I’ll either drop in or I’ll give you a ring.

Key points

A conjunction is a word that links two words or clauses of a similar type, or two parts of a sentence.

Aber, denn, oder, sondern and und are the most important co-ordinating conjunctions.

Single-word co-ordinating conjunctions do not change the order of the subject and the verb in the clause.